WhatsApp Marketing for Singapore Salons: What the DNC Registry Actually Allows

Every salon in Singapore wants to message customers on WhatsApp, and most already do — appointment confirmations, “your colour is due”, a Chinese New Year promo. The first two are fine. The third is where the Personal Data Protection Act and the Do Not Call Registry start to matter, and the rules are stricter than most owners assume. Here is what they actually say, in plain terms. (General information, not legal advice.)

Yes, WhatsApp counts

The DNC rules are not an SMS rule. The PDPC’s guidelines say the provisions apply to “any data applications (such as ‘Whatsapp’, ‘iMessage’ or ‘Viber’) which use a Singapore telephone number”. If you send a promotional message to a Singapore number over WhatsApp, the same law applies as for a text.

A “specified message” is one whose purpose — or one of whose purposes — is to advertise, promote or offer goods or services. The test is the content, not your intent. “Hi Mrs Lim, your appointment is tomorrow at 3pm” is not marketing. “Hi Mrs Lim, 20% off colour this week” is. “Your appointment is tomorrow — and here is 20% off retail while you’re in” is a specified message too, because one purpose is promotional.

The three ways a promotional message is legal

1. The number is not on the registry. Before sending, you check the numbers against the DNC Registry. A check result is valid for 21 days under the current guidelines (an older DNC page still says 30 — use 21). Costs are small: a one-time S$30 account fee, 1,000 free checks, then roughly S$0.02–S$0.025 per number.
2. You have clear consent. Consent has to be “clear and unambiguous” and evidenced “in written or other form so as to be accessible for subsequent reference”. A tick on a form, a WhatsApp reply saying yes, a recorded line at the counter — all fine if you keep the record. “They gave us their number when they booked” is not consent to marketing. If someone withdraws consent, you have 21 days to act on it.
3. An ongoing relationship, on its subject. Messages sent during an ongoing relationship, whose sole purpose relates to the subject of that relationship, are not specified messages. The PDPC looks at continuity — repeat visits, a package the customer has signed up for. A single walk-in haircut is not an ongoing relationship. A related exemption lets you text existing customers about related products without a DNC check, provided each message offers an opt-out in the same medium and you stop within 30 days of an opt-out.

Whatever route you use, every marketing message must carry your name and contact details that stay valid for at least 30 days.

Bulk messaging has its own law

The Spam Control Act covers unsolicited commercial messages sent in bulk, and since the 2020–21 amendments it explicitly includes instant messaging apps. Bulk means more than 100 similar messages in a day, 1,000 in 30 days or 10,000 in a year — a blast to your customer list qualifies. Bulk messages need an unsubscribe facility that you honour within 10 working days, and the exposure is up to S$25 per message in statutory damages.

What it costs to get it wrong

Since October 2022 the maximum penalty for DNC breaches is S$200,000 for an individual and S$1 million for a business. Those are ceilings, not typical fines — but the PDPC publishes its decisions, and a salon’s name next to the word “penalty” travels fast on Google.

What most vendors won’t tell you

Software cannot make a message compliant; only the consent behind it can. What software genuinely does is three things: keep the transactional messages (confirmations, reminders, receipts) separate from promotions so the safe ones never carry an offer; hold a record of who agreed to what and when; and stop the moment someone says stop. Ask any vendor selling “WhatsApp marketing” where the consent record lives and what happens when a customer replies STOP. If the answer is vague, so is your compliance.

The practical version

Collect marketing consent at checkout, in writing, and store it against the customer. Keep reminders purely about the appointment. For promotions, message only the customers you have consent from or a fresh DNC check on, put your salon name and number in every message, and treat any “stop” as final that day. On EaseSeat, confirmations and reminders go out from your own WhatsApp number straight from the appointment book, and promotional broadcasts go only to audiences you choose by hand — so the two never mix. See how it works on the platform, or book a demo and bring your consent form.

Sources

• PDPC, Advisory Guidelines on the Do Not Call Provisions (revised 1 February 2021) — https://www.pdpc.gov.sg/-/media/files/pdpc/pdf-files/advisory-guidelines/advisory-guidelines-on-the-dnc-provisions-1-feb-2021.pdf
• DNC Registry, information for organisations (registers, account and checking fees) — https://www.dnc.gov.sg/org_more.html
• DNC Registry, information for consumers (the page still quoting 30 days) — https://www.dnc.gov.sg/con_more.html
• Pinsent Masons (Out-Law), on the related-products exemption for existing customers — https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/privacy-rules-carve-out-lets-singapore-businesses-promote-related-products-to-existing-customers
• Jones Day, on the 2020–21 amendments extending the Spam Control Act to instant messaging — https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2021/02/singapores-personal-data-protection-regime-enhanced
• SingaporeLegalAdvice, on the Spam Control Act bulk thresholds, unsubscribe period and statutory damages (secondary summary) — https://singaporelegaladvice.com/law-articles/email-newsletters-comply-singapore-law/
• Allen & Gledhill, on the increased maximum financial penalties from 1 October 2022 — https://www.allenandgledhill.com/sg/publication/articles/22617/increased-maximum-financial-penalties-under-personal-data-protection-act-2012-from-1-october-2022

All figures retrieved 4 September 2026.